Improvement in portable fences



W. MQLAUGHLIN. Portable Fence.

No. 208,027. Patented, Sept. 17,1878.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MOLAUGHLIN, OF BANISTER, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN PORTABLE FENCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,027, datedSeptember 17, 1878; application filed June 20, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MGLAUGHLIN, of Banister, in the county ofHalifax and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Portable Fences, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being made to theaccompanying drawing, which makes a part of this specification, and inwhich- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a fence embracing myimprovements. Fig. 2 represents an end view of supports.

It has been desirable in the construction of portable fences to obtainsome simple, cheap, and durable mode of confining and bracing panels, soas to give to the fence strength and stiffness, that it may resist thepressure of wind and stock coming against it without being displaced oroverturned, and at the same time so arrange all attachments as to avoidall unnecessary joints and cavities, which cause early decay of timber.

My invention consists, first, in attaching to one end of each panelforming the fence a brace consisting of a piece of timber of sufficientsize and length, beveled, and nailed at its upper end to the side of thebatten, which is a part of the panel. The lower end of said brace isfirmly nailed between two boards, which serve as stays, connecting thefoot of the brace to the lower end of the battens.

The accompanying drawing represents a portable fence embracing myimprovements.

The panels a are constructed, in the usual way, by nailing the battens dtransversely to boards of convenient length on both sides of the end andone side of the center, and leavin g space between the boards, andcapping the top, in order to add strength and shelter to the panels.

The battens d are extended below the lower board, across the edges ofwhich, on each side, are firmly nailed the stays f, serving to hold inposition the brace c, the foot of which, resting on the ground, issecurely nailed between the stays f at a sufficient distance from thelower end of the battens d. The upper end of said brace, being beveled,is nailed to the side of the battens. This brace and stays are affixedto one end on right and left battens a1 cernately of each panel. Thewhole is firmly secured by a stake, G, driven into the ground betweenthe ends of the stays f, provided with a key fitting in recesses in theupper edges of the stays, giving to it the combined advantages of apermanent and portable fence.

Having thus described my improvements in portable fence, what I claim asnew, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As an improvement in supports for the rails of fence panels, thecombination, with the post-battens (I, of the transverse bars f, nailedto said battens, the brace c, nailed to the battens and to thetransverse bars, and stakes Gr, driven into the ground between saidtransverse bars, and confining them to the earth by means of cross-pinsthat pass through the stakes and rest in notches in the upper surface ofthe transverse bars, as described and shown.

WILLIAM MOLAUGHLIN. Witnesses: I

JOHN W. ORADDOGK, JOHN N. DIcKENs.

